SONY
PSP REVIEW: THE LEGEND OF HEROES 2: PROPHECY OF THE MOONLIGHT
WITCH

LoH2
delivers almost exactly what you'd expect. In short,
there are no real surprises but that might not matter
to real fans. by
Colin Thames

June
23, 2006- Following
in the footsteps of the original Legend of Heroes
games, I hesitate to call Legend of Heroes II a sequel,
in the same way I would call any Chuck Berry song
a sequel. Not to put ol Chuck down by any means
but his songs, like this game, follow a pretty strict
format or formula, in an attempt to mine more commercial
success. Pandering to your audience can make for some
very mediocre product. Not every song in the Berry
catalog is a gem, and Legend of Heroes II is more
bronze than it is silver or gold.

This
fantasy-based game lends itself nicely to the PSP
in that its designed to be a portable game.
It lets you save your progress at any time and pick
up from exactly where you left off. Its also
designed to pick-up-play, making it accessible to
newcomers to the genre. Moves, weapons, armor, spells
and other items are amassed as you progress. You arent
bombarded with a lot of features at the beginning
of the game. Its also recommended that you break
up the gameplay to a few hours at a sitting rather
than spending a whole day or weekend on it. It tends
to get repetitive otherwise.

As
a by-the-numbers RPG, The Legend of Heroes doesnt
necessarily fail to deliver, but it does come up short
in the originality department. The anime characters
are all teenagers that appear to be emotionally disturbed
as they are unable to display much subtlety between
states of extreme excitement, disappointment, anger
and happiness. Sure I know this isnt real life,
but these characters are just caricatures with few
redeeming qualities. I didnt form much of a
bond with the principal characters nor was I able
to put myself in their place, despite the overwhelming
amount of dialog. Not only is the dialog all text-based,
with no voiceovers, but so much of it doesnt
relate to the gameplay that you begin to tune it out
after five hours. The problem with that is that you
have to pay attention to all of it because you never
know when a character is going to drop some information
on you. There is a lot of useless dialog that doesnt
do anything but pad the length of the game. There
is enough of it among the main characters and their
friends but fortunately when it comes to non-playable
characters only the ones that have something useful
to offer will be indicated with an exclamation mark
over their heads.

Jurio
and Chris are the two main characters and are a boy
and girl respectively. The live in a small town called
Ragpick Village. At a certain age the children must
embark on a quest to begin their journey in adulthood.
By visiting the five shrines in the surrounding land,
they will peer into mirrors which are purported to
prophesize the future. Through a series of bad omens
they discover that the fate of their village is doomed
by evil forces. In order to turn the tide, the duo
must seek out the mysterious Moolight Witch whom is
responsible for these visions. In true RPG fashion,
the protagonists adventure pits them against
monsters, magic and mysterious forces.

There
are tons of characters in this game but most of them
are red herrings which just end up wasting your time.
Party members appear and disappear with great frequency.
Youre never stuck with a sap for too long. Most
of these characters are one-dimensional. They are
good for one or two things. Exploit them in battle
and then send them on their way. Battles are turn-based
and you can use up to four characters at a time. The
great thing about this game is that you can avoid
most battles. They are useful for leveling-up and
acquiring new equipment, skills and spells, but if
you dont feel like fighting you can just avoid
them by locating them on the map and altering your
path. Occasionally if you get too close they will
give chase but you can usually outrun and outsmart
them. Conversely, monsters and other enemies that
are not up to your level will run away from you.

When
you do manage to get into a fight you will notice
that the battles are somewhat streamlined. The magic
takes longer to play out due to the animations but
the other moves are pretty straightforward and results
can be obtained rather quickly. There isnt much
strategy involved expect for positioning your characters
as far away from ranged attacks as possible. A meter
will charge for your special attack and when discharged
its usually enough to eliminate any standard
enemy. The more that you level-up in terms of powers,
weapons and equipment, the better equipped you will
be to engage in more interesting fights. The enemies
that you encounter will have similar powers and you
will have to dig deeper into your bag of tricks in
order to crush them.

Assisting
party members from time to time will be various cutesy
pets that will accompany them on their adventure.
They dont play a big role in the game but they
will give you a hand in combat and will fetch some
things for you such as health and potions when you
need it.

Much
like the first game, the overall look of the game
is rather generic. It composed of an isometric perspective
with dwarfish characters and low-res cartoonish textures
that would be more at home in a Super Mario game.
The map will indicate the location of enemies but
wont give you any idea where to go. You will
have to glean that from the conversations or through
trial and error. Whenever you get lost, its
a good time to shut er down and try again later.
Not only does it work but it will save your PSP from
being winged at the wall.

The
Legend of Heroes II will not disappoint fans of the
original that are looking for more of the same. The
rest of us can expect to be a little less than impressed.

Features:

AI
that Picks Its Battles. Enemies gauge
your strength before attacking, and will turn
tail and run if they sense you are stronger
than they are.

Random
Battles  Be Gone! See your enemies on the
world map before a fight ensues.

Use
the Deadly Meter to Your Advantage.
Fill up your meter after a battle, then unleash
a devastating blow on particularly tough bosses.

Easy
to Pick up and Play. Become drawn into the storyline
within a few minutes of picking up the game.

Deep
RPG Designed for a Handheld Platform. Outside of
battles or events, save at any point in the game,
except for during battles and events.

Return
of the "Pet" system. Keep a dog, cat,
or rabbit as a pet treat it well, and it
will return the favor!

Beautiful
Environments. Colorful 2D sprites inhabit a rich
world with such details as lens flare from the sun,
water effects, and beautiful scenery.

By
Colin ThamesCCC
Freelance Writer

Rating
out of 5

The
Legend of Heroes 2: Prophecy of the Moonlight
Witch (PSP)

3.4

GraphicsSome
good 3D environments but the isometric perspective,
tiny characters and low-res textures is
passe.

4.2

ControlThe
game starts out easy enough to play and
gets more complicated as you progress. Its
gradual, allowing you to grow into it.

2.5

Music
/ Sound FX / Voice ActingThere
are no voiceovers and the music gets repetitive.

3.5

Play
ValueYou
will not want to go through those conversations
ever again, so replay value is a little
suspect, but the adventure will be worth
it for fans of the original.

3.3

Overall
Rating -
Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above
for a final score breakdown.